Ecology, Pollution and Environmental science: Open Access ( EEO )

Research Article

From the MSW Management to the Environmental Awareness and from the Organic Fraction (ORGANIC

WASTE) to1* the Compost1 Quality Guillermo Solar Olivares , M Àngels Alió Torres 1 Universitat De , Centre de Recursos per l’ Ecologia Social (CRES), Catalunya, Spain2 Institute of Water Modelling.

Copyright: © 2018 M Guillermo Solar Olivares, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract Organic waste is the bigger fraction of waste and make compost it is one of the more efficient ways in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) prevention models. We analyse the relation between the organic fraction and the compost resulting in six municipalities of . The principal components of the environmental management are: professionals/technics, funds and political will. However, a fourth component is required: environmental education. The data were obtained from municipalities of the Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona, the Agencia Catalana de Residuos, statistics organism and field work. The quality of the organic waste separation, we think it is related with the environmental education and, in particular with the environmentally conscious resulting of the non-formal education. Therefore, this study considers environmental campaigns develop by the municipalities in MSW prevention. The selection of the municipalities to study combines variables of population, total budget and how part of this founds is used by the environmental issues. We also selected municipalities to analyse different models of successful/unsuccessful in organic waste sorting at the source and good/bad compost production. In terms of waste prevention, we evaluated the organic waste composition (% of improper) of each municipality. The results suggest that the approach is effective to assess the level of variable’s association and enable us to create patterns and relations between the variables evaluated like organic fraction collected, municipal management and the non-formal environmental education. Investment in environmental themes and awareness campaigns is not always directly related with a better sorting at the source of the organic waste, finally the sorting at the source quality is not directly related with the compost quality.

Keywords: Waste Management, Organic Waste, Compost, Environmental Education, Sorting at the Source. Introduction Since ancient times humans have produced waste, and management of these increasingly it in importance. We could make a description of the evolution of waste, from the earliest times to the present, but we need to take attention on how the authorities had adapting their waste management system to respond to these changes. On the other hand, we must consider urban development and how the authority of the administration of citizen services is organized. One of the ways that, today, and implemented in many places, is the administrative union in metropolitan areas. The Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), has been adapting and evolving to respond to the challenges that the administration demands (i.e. territory, environment, housing and transport, among others).

Waste and society, and the EA, collection, final disposal and waste treatment (e.g. compost), among others, are the variables under study Figure 1: Study area (source: prepared by the authors) on this this research, seeks the point of convergence to identify an appropriate model to support waste prevention. the organic fraction. In addition, there has been an evolution in terms Inside the structure of the ÁMB there are different municipal of environmental behaviour, linked to environmental education/ realities (i.e. geography, population and budget, among others). The study area is defined by the geographical extension of the municipalities of Sant Cugat del Vallés, Torrelles de Llobregat, , Gavà, Sant Adrià de Besós y (Figure 1). This work carries out the waste prevention from two sides: The Environmental Education (e.g. scholar programs, visual campaigns, *Corresponding author: Guillermo Solar Olivares, Universitat De Barcelona, publicity) and, in the other hand, the quality of the waste separation, Centre de Recursos per l’ Ecologia Social (CRES), Catalunya, , Tel: +34 focussed in the organic waste sorting at the source. It is proposed as 600202906; Fax: +56 9 97931443; E-mail: [email protected] a direct relationship between the environmental education and the Received: October 10, 2018; Accepted: November 01, 2018; Published: November quality of the sorting at the source and, consequently, on the quality of 05, 2018

SciEnvironm, 2018 Volume 1(1): 114-122 Citation: Guillermo Solar Olivares, M Àngels Alió Torres (2018) From the MSW Management to the Environmental Awareness and from the Organic Fraction (ORGANIC WASTE) to the Compost Quality. SciEnvironm 1: 124.

awareness campaigns that are maintained over time, giving continuity, increased over time evolving to the present day. It is now imperative, and as result, persisting in the collective subconscious. on the one hand, to have a sustainable waste management system and, in the other hand, reduce the volume of waste generation. It is possible to think that, if there is a political will that develops constant and quality environmental campaigns (i.e. scholar or public) A sustainable MSW cycle corresponds to all activities associated in different environmental issues, citizens will maintain a friendlier with the waste management in a compatible model with environmental behaviour with the environment. With this, among other results, they concerns and public health, people’s wishes and needs, reuse and are able to develop a separation in quality origin, which could affect recycle, or in one word: prevention [11]. the compost quality. [Figure 2] About the organic waste, our research focus was placed on the In order to develop this research, we select 6 representative household organic waste, those are constituted mainly by organic municipalities of the ÀMB and then, select data sources to collect, waste generated at the kitchen (cooking). Organic waste composition clean and proces. The data source was: is analysed considering officials characterization made by the Catalan Agency of Waste (ARC). • Agencia de Residuos de Catalunya. Sistema Documental de Residus. Organic waste collection is a critical factor inside the model and impacts on the compost result. Actually, the Metropolitan Area of Entitat del mediambient del ÀreaMetropolitana de Barcelona. • Barcelona (ÀMB) implements a system of a selective collection, based • Instituto Cartogràfic de Catalunya. in 5 fractions (i.e. paper and cardboard, light plastic, glass, organic and the rest). The common way is using waste containers in the street, Instituto d‘Estadística de Catalunya. • whatever, door-to-door is an optional model used in some zones like • Instituto Nacional de Estadística (España). small and rural towns, and additionally, clean points can receive, classify and storage these and another waste fraction (e.g. WEEEs, • Butlletí Oficial de la Provincia de Barcelona. books, oils, batteries), and finally, others facilities, like emergency • Ayuntamientos de los municipios en estudio. points, for subsequent transportation to recycle centres. In addition, according to our experience, a good waste The principal difference between the door-to-door and other management integral system must have the following elements: (1) waste collection model like waste containers in the streets is that in Professionals and technics, (2) founding (economical resources), and the first, the collection can be developed in a more personalized way (3) political will. and allow an effective monitoring of the sorting at the source. Is task of the professional’s team to identify the source of the Both models are good and contribute for waste prevention, but waste and, more important: what? How much? And the quality of if we see the organic waste collected in both models we can find these waste. An interdisciplinary team should, always, consider the qualitative difference, as we hope to demonstrate. The difference following questions: take root in that, the door-to-door system is that being a supervised collection model, then, the quality of the different fractions collected - What elements of the society generate most amount of MSW and is higher than in an unsupervised model (i.e. waste container). The what is the nature of these? first one, allows to the waste collection personal, monitoring and warn - How could these amounts be minimized? to the users about the correct way to dispose the waste, in addition, strengthen environmental campaigns. On the other hand, waste - What role has the Recovery in the prevention model of MSW? containers receive, generally, all kind of waste because in its, there are - Can the current waste management technology keep the pace to the not a person supervising the deposit by the citizens, leaving the quality technology offers by the consume society? separation linked to the user responsibility or social-environmental sensibility [1]. Once these questions had been answered, an integral MSW management plan can be designed and implemented. Must also be explored, in our context, that after the waste collection, the organic waste must be transported/transferred to a Waste Management and organic waste collect treatment facility (i.e. compost plant or an eco-park). In fact, in these plants is where the organic waste is transformed into compost, and at In this research we consider as waste both the heterogeneous this point it is important to mention some differences between both. mass of waste from urban communities, and the accumulation of The quality can also depend on the processes that in each facility are homogeneous agricultural and industrial waste too, among others. implemented. The Catalan legislation defines waste as all those wastes generated Among the main transformations we can found the valorisation, in private homes, shops, offices and services, as well as those that do biological treatment and recycling. not fall into the category of special [1]. The use of the resources of the planet is something that comes from the most primitive societies, Today, government policies focus on the recycling business, has however, the problem of collection and disposal is a problem that is given way to the eco-parks. An eco-park is a mega facility designed and boult to treat the most quantity of recyclable materials from the MSW (on average of 260,000 tons/year), allows, for example, separate different plastics and pack it. In addition, inside its facilities, large quantities of compost it is produced. However, given the scale these facilities, and in addition, the large quantity and diversity of the origin of the organic waste (i.e. from varied municipalities), the quality is too a mixture of different qualities of organic waste and, if somewhat a big volume of compost, it is poor in quality and just it is useful to use as stabilized material in construction activities.

At the other end of the scenario we found the composting plants Figure 2: Graphical representation of the hypothesis (source: prepared by the authors) (i.e. Torrelles de Llobregat and Sant Cugat del Vallès). These plants,

SciEnvironm, 2018 Volume 1(1): 115-122 Citation: Guillermo Solar Olivares, M Àngels Alió Torres (2018) From the MSW Management to the Environmental Awareness and from the Organic Fraction (ORGANIC WASTE) to the Compost Quality. SciEnvironm 1: 124.

in contrast to the eco-parks, are facilities specially designed and any learning process carried out through in a systematic program, not dedicated to the organic waste treatment. Compost process have been always evaluated, and that is not equivalent to an educational level, present in the environment, ever, and these processes is replicated in nor does it lead to an academic degree [3]. a compost plant like these, under Tº and humidity control to help the Following this premise, the role on the non-formal environmental process and also help avoid environmental damage [Figure 3] education and its importance of learning, different concepts beginning The end result, the compost, should be of high quality, and to form (i.e. what learn, how learn, where learn, to who). Highlights often, can be distributed and marketed, in fact, the final compost the role of the United Nations (UN) in 1973 and the creation of The can compensate the operation cost of the compost plant, reaching an United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Corresponding “economical rentability” point [6,8]. the task of leading and encourage the participation of the citizens, promoting the preservation of the environment and the good Today, compost facilities are a valid option in any MSW management of natural recourses, giving to the nations and people management plan, allow even to generate a new marketable product. the guidelines for this, the sustainable development. In a local level, compost facilities should be an option for each The environmental education gives an educational value to the municipality and adopt measures according to its determined needs. task of analyse the environmental problems, give to their users, tools In this point, compost plants should be recognized for their ecological to address these problems and, many times, critical conflicts between and environmental value over eco-parks. Today, it should rather the sustainable development v/s the progress. Hand in hand with the as “more acceptable”, considering the environmental impact (i.e. evolution of the Information and Communication’s Technologies (ICT), environmental externalities), a compost plant over a landfill [8]. In people has seen involved in a kind of rain of “conflict” information. In addition, between the various uses of the compost it to improve the this scenario, the environmental education must recognize the conflict land for agricultural use, in fact, some researches prove the reduction as a learning oportunity, giving tools to discriminate, evaluate, apply of soil toxicity when it is mixed with the original soil [9]. criteria and values to develop alternatives and take decisions. It should Environmental non-formal education especially attention each one of the different thematic (e.g. sea, forests, air, soil), many times, these thematic need an interdisciplinary team Non-formal education, since the early days of human age, is (e.g. biologist, geography, geology) and, at the same time, should be the knowledge transfer between different generation (i.e. oldest to addresses from different approach, conform their knowledge to the youngest), sometimes by needs (e.g. knowledge of the activity/job for people who receive the lesson, attending not only the environmental subsist, learning for personal vocation). With this evolution over time, focus, but addressing the political and economic issue, among others. education was organized, regulating and systematising. The need to educate citizens (or future citizens) is a topic that, day to day, As early as 1969, Bill Stapp [10] defined the environmental is increasingly and focused in the youngest generation (e.g. children education as “Environmental education is aimed at producing a and young people). The goal is to get a future generation, the citizens citizenry that is knowledgeable concerning the biophysical environment of the future, with a friendly behaviour, aware of the importance of and its associated problems, aware of how to help solve these problems the environmental care. When we talk about environmental education and motivated to work toward their solution”. activities, we refer to: Something more formal experiences in terms of non-formal • Activities, places and initiatives (e.g. ludic, role games) developed environmental education, or first experiences are associated with by GNOs, external of the formal sector. activities immerse in the nature, driven by academics (i.e. school • Promotion and support for selective waste collection campaigns. innovating teachers, young researches), but, afterwards, begin to get support and institutional support, creating organizations and trying • Environmental campaigns in others thematic (e.g. saving of water, to coordinate these activities (e.g. the Council for Environmental energy or another). Education in UK) [7]. Slowly, some NGOs beginning to emerge and • Environmental sensitive elements. start an environmental education program too, in coordination and, more important, in a gradual collaboration and complementation. The actual environmental education is product of a large historic Often dedicated on specific environmental campaign, but ever, process, adding different sciences camps and engineering specialities, maintaining the diffusion inside the non-formal parameters. but, just when the ecology appear in the scenario, began to establish Continuing, the non-formal environmental education is defined as itself as we know today as that observes nature and its relation with humans, animals and all components of the biosphere, studies and diagnoses its condition to achieve its conservation and preservation, managing and connects the knowledge form different sciences areas of environmental interests [5]. An example of a complementary activity of environmental education, is the relation between a public organism and a school in a recycling campaign. In fact, promoting the sorting at the source at the school, scholars are stimulating social and environmental awareness and then, themselves transmit the message to its families, friends and social own ambit. Therefore, these activities are based on the scholar curriculum, promoting complementary activities for students, from the pre-scholar to secondary [4]. However, the local government –and highest instances– must check and regular these program/activities for the future citizens. In fact, according to its possibilities and local realities, promote a friendly transition to integrating and inclusive government model, from the local environmental management. These actions, in consequence, Figure 3: Diagram depicting the facility processing of yard waste into compost. produce an eventual and real involvement in the processes of different

SciEnvironm, 2018 Volume 1(1): 116-122 Citation: Guillermo Solar Olivares, M Àngels Alió Torres (2018) From the MSW Management to the Environmental Awareness and from the Organic Fraction (ORGANIC WASTE) to the Compost Quality. SciEnvironm 1: 124.

social agents (e.g. NGOs, groups and organizations) can propose, are obsolete. execute and develop within their own action areas, accord to their While the economic activities of each municipality are different own models and philosophy too, ensuring that these groups share responsibility in their relation and participations degree with the and for this we never lose sight where are their economic resource local government and their social and environmental policies [5]. (local and external). To this end, we have considered the mobility of Then, the city town fulfils its audit role in the non-formal education the workforce. system and, in addition, can help to guide the task to carrying the Differences between municipalities, and their citizens, will environmental education to the classrooms, finally, the city town it be reflected in the waste production and, more important, in the must become protagonist of the environmental campaigns, inside and composition of the total waste (i.e. percentage of each waste fraction) outside, but focussed in the citizens. In Catalonia, the PROGREMIC produced by each one. This conduct can be evaluated and associated [2], among its activity areas, argues is preferable the actions oriented as an average of each model in the research. This difference it is to the citizen participation, this means that the success or failure illustrated in [Figure 4] of the selected waste model is product of the role and participation of the community and, inside these action, highlights the action in The first thing that strike us is the difference of the waste quantity. environmental education. Sant Cugat, in fact, broke the distribution of the rest of municipalities since 2005 to 2010. This would be explained by the kind of the city Municipalities under study and its urban and planning differences. In one hand, Sant Cugat del The municipalities were selected according different reasons, Vallès is a big city, more active and with more mobility, and, in the but particularity, as well as other, for its administration, social, other hand, Torrelles de Llobregat, explained by its nature and kind of geographical limits, compost facilities and population. The selected municipality, like a village. municipalities were Sant Cugat del Vallès, Torrelles de Llobregat, El The organic waste of Torrelles de LLobregat and Sant Cougat del Prat de Llobregat, Gavà, Sant Adriá de Besós and Montcada de Reixac. Vallés, is trated in its own compost plants. The rest of municipalities Table 1 lists, as a first proximity, the population of these municipalities. treat their organic waste in eco-parks (1 and 2). The organic waste is For our research we considered the data in terms of percentage, provided by the selective waste collection service and, on a smaller this allow a comparison from percentages of quality and quantity in scale, from the green points. Our first theory, like an introduction is the analyse of the data collected. that the compost quality depends of the organic waste quality, and the organic waste quality depend of the sorting at the source quality. A first point of comparation is the difference of the population between the municipalities, and the type of municipality (i.e. greater A second approach its associated to the treatment facility, for or lesser urbanized). For example, in one extreme we have Sant Cugat effects of this research these values are exposed in Table 2. del Vallés, an active municipality, with young and active citizens and a richer economy class, with a defined town centre and universities, Results and Discussion then the residential neighbourhoods. In the other hand, Torrelles de First of all, it is important to mention that the waste management Llobregat, with a predominant older population and single familiar in the different municipalities, goes from the door-to-door model, to households, where it is still possible to find agricultural activity. In the waste containers model, corresponding on many occasions with addition, in the last year there has been a significant increase in the the urban planning of each city (e.g. streets, avenues or construction migratory activity attracted by the peaceful and good life quality but density). Mention also the difference between a large and small city. maintain its jobs in other cities. In addition, use of green points –fixed­ and mobiles– and, in some Another factor that reflects differences in the type of the selected cities, emergency areas for dispose waste when ifs needed (e.g. larger municipalities, linked to the population of each one, is the municipal weekends). budget for environmental affairs. Naturally, a municipality with a Figure 4: Waste production in the six municipalities under study (prepared by the greater population and surface area, should have a higher budget for authors). environment and specifically for waste management. Also, and linked to the geographical scenario, a city hall would develop and implement a special waste collection model, appropriate to each reality. Interestingly, to analyse the average income in each municipality, in one hand, a city with a higher education level would have a higher income too. Then, these people have a greater purchasing power and, in parallel, this person possibly received better opportunities. Finally, if these kinds of people are conscious of this condition, they could have greater environmental awareness. Unfortunately, the reality is far of the commented scenario, and worse, we can associate the purchasing power with a consumerist behaviour. Then, a high waste production in packaging it is expected. And more, people with a compulsive whirl of consumerism discard quickly their products that, in their minds,

Table 1: Municipalities population (source: prepared by the authors) Municipality 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Table 2: Compost plants characteristics (source: prepared by the authors) Sant Cugat del Vall és 73.345 76.274 79.253 81.745 88.337 84.946 In operation Tons/año Costo Planta Torrelles del Llobregat 4.974 5.208 5.430 5.526 5.661 5.740 from FORM explotación El Prat de LLobregat 62.663 62.899 63.418 63.434 63.499 63.162 Sant Cugat del Vallés 2001 7.600 400.000 € Gavà 44.210 45.190 45.994 46.384 46.250 46.488 Torrelles de Llobregat 1997 4.500-5.000 s/i Sant Adrià de Besós 32.734 33.223 33.761 34.104 34.157 34.482 Ecoparc 1 200 70.000 12.400.000 € Montcada i Reixac 32.111 32.750 33.453 33.656 34.232 34.689 Ecoparc 2 2000-2004 74.500 s/i

SciEnvironm, 2018 Volume 1(1): 117-122 Citation: Guillermo Solar Olivares, M Àngels Alió Torres (2018) From the MSW Management to the Environmental Awareness and from the Organic Fraction (ORGANIC WASTE) to the Compost Quality. SciEnvironm 1: 124.

Waste Collection was improved in 2012. Sant Cougat del Vallés was selected not just for its geographical The other municipalities (El Prat de Llobregat, Gavà, Sant Adrià and demographics characteristics, it is also for its collection waste del Besós and Motcada i Reixac), maintain a model based on the waste model, similar to Torrelles de Llobregat, but maintains waste containers collection. containers for the five common waste fractions (except Valldoreix The focus for our research is the organic waste quality collected, neighbourhood, where it maintained the door-to-door collection). the result of its characterization is presented below. In turn, and considering the geographical extension, its divided in El Prat de Llobregat Figure 7 has been constantly improving since five sectors and circuits (i.e. two of them in the city centre and the 2010, but, in 2013 reflects a decrease in the organic waste quality. rest out of the centre). A priori, we could think that the sorting at the source in residentials zones is better than in the city centre, but results At Gavà [Figure 8], an improvement in a specific year is observed demonstrate the opposite of these. Organic waste and its quality are and it is noted for being an abrupt change, holding this result in below. illustrated in Figure 5. However, in 2010 the results show a decrease in their quality and then a new increment, maintained to the end of this research. In the other side, the waste collection model of Torrelles de In respect of Sant Adrà de Besós, an important improvement its Llobregat is door-to-door across the city. The expectation is that the observed in 2008, and a decrease since 2011 [Figure 9]. quality of the sorting at the source, and in fact the organic waste, have better quality than in the waste containers collection model. One of Closing this section, the first differences of organic waste can be the qualities of the door-to-door collection model is the capacity to observed, and, in advance, this waste can be processed in a compost supervise the process and waste delivered by the user. Then, if the plant or in eco-park, with a difference too, between twice facilities. organic waste fail to comply with the minim standard, it is refused Finally, the data of the organic waste of Montcada i Reixac can be appreciated in [Figure 10] Certainly, the illustrated differences and returned to the user. The organic waste quality is illustrated in are product, in part, for the life style and its activities of each city, Figure 6. sometimes very different (e.g. Torrelles de Llobregat v/s Sant Cugat Particularly striking is the high percentage of organic waste v/s the del Vallés), and differences between the process for the organic waste unfit of these fraction (i.e. inorganic waste), the proportion of organic (i.e. compost plant or eco-park). waste did not fall below 90%, with a minimum of 90.71% on 2011 and In one hand we have an activity city, connected to the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (Sant Cugat del Vallès), and, in the other hand,

Figure 5: Organic waste characterization at Sant Cougat del Vallés (prepared by the authors). Figure 7: Organic waste characterization at El Prat de Llobregat (prepared by the authors)

Figure 6: Organic waste characterization at Torrelles de Llobregat (prepared by the authors). Figure 8: Organic waste characterization at Gavà (prepared by the authors).

SciEnvironm, 2018 Volume 1(1): 118-122 Citation: Guillermo Solar Olivares, M Àngels Alió Torres (2018) From the MSW Management to the Environmental Awareness and from the Organic Fraction (ORGANIC WASTE) to the Compost Quality. SciEnvironm 1: 124.

Table 3: Sant Cugat del Vallés expenses in environmental activities. (source: economic municipal budgets) Municipality Sant Cugat del Vallés Year Environmental budget. % total budget Per capita spending 2005 17.878,39 0,01 0,25 2006 45.789,69 0,04 0,62 2007 64.637,31 0,07 0,87 2008 104.057,39 0,09 1,36 2009 89.732,91 0,08 1,13 2010 267.794,74 0,29 3,28 2011 170.788,03 0,18 2,05

Table 4: Torrelles de Llobregat expenses in environmental activities. (source: economic municipal budgets) Municipality Torrelles de LLobregat Year Environmental budget. % total budget Per capita spending Figure 9: Organic waste characterization at Sant Adrià del Besós (prepared by the authors) 2005 72.363,71 1,40 22,69 2006 92.159,95 1,16 19,29 2007 74.467,68 1,34 14,97 2008 97.145,00 1,42 20,19 2009 50.307,45 0,70 9,26 2010 0,00 0,00 0,00 2011 85.973,29 1,84 15,47

Table 5: El Prat de Llobregat expenses in environmental activities (source: economic municipal budgets) Municipality El Prat de LLobregat Year Environmental budget. % total budget Per capita spending 2005 2.527.171 3,58 39,99 2006 646.503 0,83 10,25 2007 719.690 0,83 11,49 2008 662.100 0,67 10,53 2009 352.100 0,36 5,55 2010 353.975 0,36 5,58 Figure 10: Organic waste characterization at Montcada I Reixac (prepared by the authors) 2011 303.578 0,38 4,78 a small city, with a traditional family life style and closer to farm Table 6: Gavà expenses in environmental activities.(source: economic municipal budgets) traditions, like family farming yet Torrelles de Llobregat). Municipality Gavà It remains to explore the rest of cities of the Àrea Metropolitana Year Environmental budget. % total budget Per capita spending de Barcelona, avaluating the differences about its population, 2005 4.890.632 9,15 110,62 urbanization, economic and social activities and, most important, its 2006 2.023.839 3,41 45,45 waste management. 2007 1.961.422 2,58 43,90 Environmental education from the city council 2008 2.229.600 3,52 49,34 2009 2.399.505 3,20 52,17 How much spent the city council in each city for environmental 2010 2.597.136 4,22 55,99 campaigns? That is the first question raised in this research, or at 2011 2.564.618 5,31 55,45 least in environmental management. Another way of addressing the question, and in fact, our approach, was to evaluate environmental Table 7: Sant Adrià de Besós expenses in environmental activities.(source: economic affairs expenses, based in economic budgets and/or balances and municipal budgets) then, to estimate how much to invest in environmental campaigns, Municipality Sant Adrià de Besós this analysis is carried out in proportions terms. Take just the total Year Environmental budget. % total budget Per capita spending investment, in numbers, it is not an equitable method considering 2005 51.441,69 0,15 1,56 the scale of the different municipalities under study. It is not the same 2006 73,799,79 0,20 2,26 and does not reflect the reality in similar conditions, for example, 2007 122.325,95 0,34 3,74 an x investment, for two different municipalities (A and B), but the 2008 74.456,44 0,16 2,24 economic budget of A is three times upper than the B economy budget. 2009 40.668,00 0,09 1,20 Data collection is presented on Tables 3-7. 2010 46.528,91 0,11 1,36 2011 22.166,05 0,06 0,65 The first thing that calls our attention here is the difference in the percentage (proportion) of the economic budget that each city hall (zero). investing in environmental issues. This may explain, a priori, the organic fraction quality in the same temporal window. It is worth Draw our attention the difference in per capita spending. Sant noting that, in 2010 the town council of Torrelles de Llobregat do not Cugat del Vallés has the lower spending, but this amount increasing to approve the municipal budget, then, the value for this case was 0 year by year. At the other end of the sample, Gavà presented the higher

SciEnvironm, 2018 Volume 1(1): 119-122 Citation: Guillermo Solar Olivares, M Àngels Alió Torres (2018) From the MSW Management to the Environmental Awareness and from the Organic Fraction (ORGANIC WASTE) to the Compost Quality. SciEnvironm 1: 124.

spending, but, in this case, we need to process the data with care, 21 of El Prat. During 2005-2006 developing a strong campaign because the data source –on environmental expenses– has not the oriented to further and increase the quantity and quality of the organic same quality in granularity of the data requested. It therefore decided fraction collection at the source. to leave this data, because in the firsts economic budget the city hall Another municipality that in previous section (organic waste of Gavà considered a low detail in the environmental subdivision item quality) showed a marked improve was Sant Adrià de Besós. In (i.e. just one value for this item associating subitems like collection, its waste management, this municipality, draws our attention the disposal, dump treatment and street cleaning, but do not indicate the continuous and diverse activities oriented in the environment but, proportion for each one), finally, the values were discussed in terms of ever linked to the citizen life quality, finally, these actions could lead the scale of expenditures and correlating rates and, that methodology to a strong environmental awareness and waste sorting at the source. reflect the reality in economic budgets and the per capita spending in These actions are addressed to various areas and was start in 2007. environmental issues. With the presented examples is possible to appreciate the A simple way to compare and interpret the data presented above importance about the effort in environmental issues, the study cases is evaluating and comparing how much each city hall spending in demonstrate that the town council do not dedicate the same effort to environmental awareness campaigns. On this type of data collection, environmental issues, still less that in sorting at the source campaigns, it was found that the conduct of some citizens about waste prevention, especially organic waste sort. In the other hand, the investment of and another environmental campaigns, could have an impact on founds in environmental issues, not ever achieve the best result in a waste prevention. Or in another words, when a city council makes, better sort at the source. for example, a campaign about water-saving policies, may also induce environmentally friendly behaviour and, in general, all those whose The results allow us to generate a first model that demonstrate that, support in a behaviour more sustainable, including, among others, in fact, in short-term and medium-term when a city council invest the sorting et the source quality. Within the environmental awareness and take a political compromise in education (specially in non-formal municipal campaigns, we can mention the following: environmental education) would achieve, and in fact was observed in our study, an important improve on waste separation. - Waste prevention campaigns at the Green-Commerce net (Xarxa de comerç verd). However, in general, the results suggest that the approach used is effective for an effective evaluation of simple patterns between non- - Support campaigns about sorting at the source, specially the organic formal environmental education, the govern effort and the citizen waste and home-compost promotion. behaviour, in this case, environmental behaviour and particularly in - Support to local sustainability (e.g. energy and water use). sorting at the source of the organic waste. - Waste reduction in popular events (e.g. reusable cups). During the study, there has been evaluated the organic waste quantity, I addition we have been evaluate the quality of these fraction - Partnership environmental campaigns (e.g. with ecoembes). in a temporal window of the study. This approach allowed us to One factor that must to be highlighted is that, in some cases, results improve our proposed theory/model, comparing the organic fraction of an environmental campaigns are not related with the investment/ quantity and qualitative composition. In other words, it is not enough spend. For example, the campaign “on vas envàs” (plastic-container, correlate the quantity of sorting at the source variables (organic waste where do you go?) meant a high cost in media, include a lot of massive respect about the total of municipal solid waste), it is necessary to and varied diffusion material for the campaign. Nevertheless, and evaluate the organic fraction quality [Figures 11-16]. although the public perception was evaluated as a good campaign (with a 6 in a 1-10 scale), but the result was not satisfactory. In fact, in Conclusions the post-evaluation the 42.3% of the citizens indicate that they do not The more relevant results outcomes, in first instance, describe think would change their habits. the citizens behaviour in relation with the sorting at the source. Just when the summary of different efforts (i.e. professionals, founds and Examples in environmental campaigns are present in the political will), are oriented to the citizen, the result will reflect a best municipalities under study, we will comment some of them. At Sant will reward socially and environmental responsible behaviour, and Cugat del Vallès, in 2007, and for aim to the regulatory compliance, the inside this, a best sorting at the source of the municipal solid waste. sorting at the source campaigns called “A Mira-Sol, tots amb la selecció selectiva” (In Mira-Sol, all with selective selection) was launched after The results more important are: a study and diagnosis about the municipal solid waste management 1.- The non-formal Environmental Education is not a task that only model (i.e. Diagnosi i Pla d’acció de la gestió dels residus municipals de Mira-Sol/ Diagnosis and Action Plan for the Municipal Solid Waste Management at Mira-Sol) and from a citizen consultation. Torrelles maintains a regular fiscal spending by habitant, as a result of the economic crisis, it observed a small decrease, but the level of the total municipal spending remained stable. This effort maintain the quality of the organic waste collected in source or, in other words, the effort of Torrelles de Llobregat is not focused in highest campaigns, the effort is focused in campaigns that are maintained over time. The same city council has developed some campaigns focuses in reinforce a friendly behaviour with the environment. In addition, in Torrelles de Llobregat know that an integral campaign about environmental cares, and not just about waste. For its part, El Prat de Llobregat has for 26 year an environmental education program, specially focused in the conservation of the Figure 11: Ratio comparison of the quantity and quality organic waste collection at Sant Llobregat’s delta and, since 2002 has been implemented of the Agenda Cugat del Vallés (Prepared by the authors).

SciEnvironm, 2018 Volume 1(1): 120-122 Citation: Guillermo Solar Olivares, M Àngels Alió Torres (2018) From the MSW Management to the Environmental Awareness and from the Organic Fraction (ORGANIC WASTE) to the Compost Quality. SciEnvironm 1: 124.

Figure 12: Ratio comparison of the quantity and quality organic waste collection at Figure 16: Ratio comparison of the quantity and quality organic waste collection at Sant Torrelles de Llobregat (Prepared by the authors). Adrià de Besós (Prepared by the authors).

incumbent to social institutions, but also on government instance as a whole. In fact, a correlation is necessary between government effort and the message for the citizens. That is necessary to make an evolution to a citizen compromised with social and environmental issues. 2.- Citizens have evolved its consumption pattern and, today, the organic waste fraction is scarcer in more active and developed urbanizations than that more traditional/rural life style. 3.- The number of fraction collected is correlated with the economic effort of some town councils, especially in campaigns, but is not a recognizable patron from the study focus. 4.- The organic waste fraction, no not direct relation with the economy effort about the environmental sensibilities. Figure 13: Ratio comparison of the quantity and quality organic waste collection at El Prat de Llobregat (Prepared by the authors). 5.- From the above points, we can add that the organic waste quality don not have relation with the number of the total fractions collected by the municipality, in other words, major percentage of organic waste of the total waste has no implication into the quality of the organic waste fraction. 6.- The town councils that maintain the economic effort in order to evolve in its collection waste model, focussed in improve the organic waste quality (e.g. Sant Cugat del Vallés and El Prat de Llobregat), presented the best evolution from a maintained environmental campaign. 7.- There are a difference in the environmental policies applied, by the particular situation/scenario of each municipality. For example, the effort of Torrelles de Llobregat it is focussed for maintain the quality of the process of sorting at the source (for this, they have a door-to-door collection model), in the other hand, El Prat de Llobregat focused this Figure 14: Ratio comparison of the quantity and quality organic waste collection at Gavà effort to improve the previous collection quality results, even reducing (Prepared by the authors). its environmental budget. 8.- Of the municipalities that compost in Eco-parks, the municipality of El Prat de Llobregat have the better result in sorting at the source –of organic waste fraction– demonstrating its high implication with the environment care (i.e. campaigns). 9.- It is imperative to have not only environmental education at the school (even the formal education), it is necessary to complement with non-formal education (e.g. scouts, excursion or sport club). 10.- It has been proven that environmental campaigns can be oriented not only in waste prevention, it could be appreciated how another environmental campaigns can impact in better citizens. 11.- The economic differences of the municipalities under study, do not have relation with the sorting at the source quality. In one Figure 15: Ratio comparison of the quantity and quality organic waste collection at Gavà hand, Sant Cugat del Vallés present a high income and is an active (Prepared by the authors). municipality (in terms of life style), but do not present a good organic

SciEnvironm, 2018 Volume 1(1): 121-122 Citation: Guillermo Solar Olivares, M Àngels Alió Torres (2018) From the MSW Management to the Environmental Awareness and from the Organic Fraction (ORGANIC WASTE) to the Compost Quality. SciEnvironm 1: 124.

waste fraction. In the other hand, Torrelles de Llobregat, with a lower municipals a Catalunya 2007-2012. . Departament de income, have the better organic waste fraction. Medi Ambient i Habitatge. 3. Delgado E, Antilef A, Perez M, y Ortega, D Brújula (2012) Apuntes de apoyo 12.- Montcada I Reixac have demonstrate that a change in the citizen para educadores ambientales. Ministerio del Medio Ambiente - Fundación behaviour as a response of a specific campaign, however, because Sendero de Chile. Chile. of the lack of data, we cannot be validated that que poor quality of the organic waste collection, is produced just for a low interest of 4. Departamento de Control de la Contaminación, Área Residuos. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente de Chile (ex CONAMA). Chile. 2006 the municipality to develop environmental education campaign, especially non-formal programs. 5. Gutiérrez J, Pozo T Modelos teóricos contemporáneos y marcos de fundamentación de la educación ambiental para el desarrollo sostenible. In this work have remained develop a more extensive study Revista Iberoamericana de Educación. about the evolution along the time considering more variables (e.g. 6. Ingelmo F., Canet R., Ibañez M. A., Pomares F. and García J. Use of MSW demographic, urban develop, social and economic variables, seasonal compost, dried sewage sludge and other wastes as partial substitutes for peat population and traditions and customs for each city), we believe that and soil. Bioresource technology. Elsevier Science Ltd. Great Britain. UK. have a strong relationship with the quantity and quality of the organic 1998 waste fraction produced in each municipality. 7. Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos, para la ciencia y la cultura. Educación ambiental: Teoría y práctica. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación. Acknowledgments Núm. 11. 1996. This work was made possible through the continued support and 8. Renkow M. and Rubin QR (1998) Does municipal solid waste composting scholarship of the Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona and its Program make economic sense? Journal of Environmental Management. of waste prevention. 9. Shiralipour Aziz, McConnel Dennis B, Smith Wayne H (1992) Uses and benefits of MSW compost: A review and an assessment. Biomass and References Bioenergy. Vol 3. Great Britain. UK. 1. Alió Ma Àngels (2008) Una visión desde el análisis de las políticas sobre el 10. Stapp William B, Havlick Spenser, Bennet Dean, Bryan Jr. William, Fulton reciclaje de residuos urbanos. Scripta Nova, revista electrónica de Geografía Jerome, et al. (1969) The concept of environmental education. The journal of y Ciencias Sociales. Vol. XII, núm. 270 (148). Universidad de Barcelona. environmental education. Vol 1 No 1, 30-31. USA. Cataluña. 11. Tchobanoglous George, Theisen Hilary and Vigil Samuel. Gestión integral de 2. Agència de residus de Catalunya. PROGREMIC, Programa de gestió de residus residuos sólidos. McGraw-Hill/Interamericana de España. 1994.

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